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Silly lies and giant untruths of Donald Trump

For once I almost found myself on the same side as President Donald J. Trump.

A terrifying thought I know, but true.

The fact is I believe anyone can misspeak or screw up.

I certainly have done so too many times to count.

However, to me, it's how one reacts to a mistake that matters.

Does one deny, obfuscate, or lie, or does one admit a mistake was made, offer sincere apologies, and move on.

On Inauguration Day in 2017, two incidences occurred, one very well remembered, the other almost totally forgotten, which should have warned us where this president's head was at were he ever to be caught misspeaking or lying.

The famous lie was when the newly elected president forced his then press secretary Sean Spicer to repeat again and again, despite photographic evidence proving the opposite was true, that there were more people who attended the Trump swearing in ceremony than attended the swearing in ceremony of his predecessor four years earlier.

A small lie.

A silly lie.

But a lie nonetheless.

(In his new book, Spicer admits that he knew the opposite was true, but that the president aggressively insisted that he deny this obvious truth to the point where Spicer's own personal credibility was destroyed and eventually he was forced out of his job at the White House.

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The second incident, far less well known and far less remembered, occurred when the president told the crowd standing or sitting in the rain during his inaugural address, that the sun was shining.

At the time it seemed a small lie, more quirky than malicious, but in retrospect it was a foreshadowing of a personality disorder that has led many to question if this president can believed no matter what he says.

Those incidences aside, for a very brief, fleeting moment when he returned from Europe this past week, I believed that President Trump was going to finally walk away from his serial denials, obfuscations, and outright lying and admit to his multiple gaffes during his sojourn to Europe.

Fat chance.

The reality is that just as he had done when he insisted that both his crowd size was bigger than Obama's, as well as that the sun was brightly shining as the rain fell, Trump haughtily and incorrectly denied to one and all his mountain of faux pas, flubs and factual fabrications while in Europe.

Insult the EU? Check.

Insult NATO? Check.

Insult the City of London? Check.

Insult the British Prime Minister? Check.

Insult the Prime Minister of Germany? Check

Insult the Queen of England by walking in front of her? Check

Insult the entire Intel Community in America that works for him and us? Check.

Insult the people of the United States by creating a false equivalency between democratic America and the authoritarian government in Russia? Check.

The sad reality is even Trump's biggest boosters at FoxNews knew he blew it last week in Europe, and with the exception of quislings Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, joined in the thunderous cacophony of criticism upon his return.

And in the end, what was the single mistake for which Trump would cop a plea?

In Helsinki, President Trump said in front of our nation's greatest foe, and in complete contradiction with 100 percent of our nation's entire Intel community, that he didn't see any reason why the old Soviet Union, and the former KGB chief who leads it today, "WOULD" have interfered in our election in 2016.

Would.

Now, what President Donald J. Trump now says he meant to say was, "WOULDN'T have interfered in our election in 2016".

Would not, not would.

Get it? Sadly, I do.

Now some in the media, on Capitol Hill, and around the world have expressed doubts about the sincerity of even this small walk back.

Not me.

I believe this is a president who has earned our trust when it comes to accuracy by spending the past 17 months of his presidency not just dotting every "I" and crossing every "T", but, more importantly, not letting a single false fact go uncorrected.

And if you believe that than you probably believe the sun was shining when Trump took his oath of office.

It wasn't.

Michael Goldman is a political consultant to Democrat candidates and a weekly contributor to this newspaper.

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